Harry PotterGranger and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: -3rd in series- As Harry and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their third year, new discoveries force them to acknowledge the gaps in their relationship as more information about Harry's parents comes to light...
1. Birthdays in Paris

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the usual rules, you know (And I got the original idea for this from 'Harry Potter and the Time Mage', even if I took the time-travel aspect out of the equation)

Feedback: Always a pleasure

AN: The third story in the series where Harry was adopted by the Grangers, now delving deeper into the family dynamics that Harry and Hermione have developed in a world where they were raised as siblings rather than just coming together as friends (As well as the obvious issue of Sirius).

Hope you like the little 'blast to the past' I included here; could have been better, but I think the end result works…

Harry Potter/Granger and the Prisoner of Azkaban

As he walked through the streets of Paris, Harry was amazed at how relaxed he felt about everything; after the chaos of last year's events in the Chamber, it was surprising how comforting anonymity was.

While he and Hermione had spent the first couple of weeks of summer grounded for their further violation of school rules during the Chamber incident, it had mainly been used as an excuse for them to get their schoolwork finished- Hermione, as always, nearly writing far more than was required before Harry convinced her to space it out a bit more- before departing for the previously-planned holiday to France. After visiting a few locations of historical interest around the country- Harry and Hermione had managed to suggest a few magical-themed locations that were comfortably dismissive of blood-based prejudices, allowing them to show their parents around without worrying too much about running into the French equivalent of Draco Malfoy-, they'd made their way to their current hotel, spending time visiting the local tourist attractions, both the conventional muggle spots and the magical locations.

Looking up at the Eiffel Tower, Harry smiled at the thought that they were about to go up it; they'd seen some fascinating sights, but there was still something about the chance to see the Eiffel Tower that really made his day…

"Harry?" Hermione said, walking up to look at her brother from where they were waiting at the edge of the river near the Tower, enjoying the sights while their parents waited in the queue. "Are you all right?"

"Just enjoying the view," Harry said, smiling over at his sister. "I mean, do you even realise how long it's been since I was somewhere where I knew I wasn't going to attract attention in a crowd?"

"A couple of years at least, right?" Hermione said, grinning back at her brother.

"More or less," Harry replied, nodding back at his sister.

His celebrity status in the wizarding world had its ups and downs, but one of the most obvious ones was the fact that it was hard for him to have any sense of privacy in public locations; even if he didn't show off his scar, it wasn't impossible for someone to recognise him…

His thoughts were interrupted when a large boy hurrying past bumped into Harry, sending both of them staggering slightly as the boy's larger bulk was countered by Harry's own physical presence. Turning to look at the large figure that had just struck him, Harry was about to apologise for the accident, but his eyes widened in shock as he recognised the other boy.

"Dudley?" he said incredulously before he could stop himself.

He hadn't thought about his cousin for years- ever since he'd left the orphanage with the Grangers, he'd tried to forget anything to do with that time of his life-, but Dudley had been such a constant figure of torment in his childhood that it would take a lot longer than the near-decade he'd spent away from him to forget what he looked like. Since he'd last seen him, Dudley appeared to have become increasingly fatter than he'd ever been with the Dursleys even allowing for his greater age, putting Harry disturbingly in mind of a pig that someone had squeezed into a set of clothes.

"Who-" Dudley began, before his eyes settled on Harry's scar and widened in shocked recognition. "_You_?"

"Dudders?" another outrageously fat woman said as she walked up to the boy in question, looking at him with an affection that Harry couldn't help but regard as exaggerated compared to how the Grangers and the Weasleys treated him. "You shouldn't run off-!"

The woman halted mid-sentence as her eyes fell on Harry, an expression of recognition and rage on her face as she glared him, Harry's sense of panic growing even before he recognised her. Harry vaguely remembered his uncle Vernon's sister Marge, but if he'd not thought about Dudley willingly for years his memories of Marge had been comparatively easy to ignore considering the lack of contact they'd had. She might have been just as abusive towards him as the Dursleys, letting her dog chase him and barely acknowledging his presence- the closest she'd come was giving him a bag of dog biscuits as a Christmas present the year before he was taken away-, but she'd never really gone out of her way to do it, relying on her brother to 'discipline' him.

"You…" Marge Dursley said, glaring at him in pointed recognition as she stepped forward in what could have been a gesture of protection if it wasn't for the fact that she was protecting a bully already nearly as wide as she was. "My poor brother had to leave his _son _because of you-!"

"Leave Harry alone!" Hermione said, stepping forward to stand between her brother and the older woman, glaring back at her with a greater intensity behind her stare than Marge's. "He never did _anything _wrong-!"

"He should have been grateful that his good-for-nothing parents had any family willing to do something for him!" Marge yelled, looking indignantly at Hermione as Dudley looked at Harry with a satisfied smirk. "My brother put up with that _delinquent_ for years, and the only thing this boy did was hand him over to the police-!"

"For behaviour that amounted to attempted murder," a cold voice said as Alan Granger walked up to stand behind his children, looking coldly at Marge as he spoke. "Marge Dursley, I take it?"

"And you are?" Marge replied.

"Alan," Alan replied simply, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm Harry's new guardian."

"Really?" Marge said, looking at him with a more eager smile. "You are aware that my brother was a prominent figure in his community-"

"Who used Harry as a source of cheap labour while pampering his own son beyond the point where anyone else would?" Alan said, looking at Dudley with a pointed stare for a moment before turning his attention back to Marge. "I'll make this simple; stay away from Harry and don't voice any unwanted opinions, and I'll make sure he stays away from you."

"That _delinquent_-" Marge began.

"Has never caused us any trouble," Alan said firmly. "If you don't want us to have to dig up everything your brother did to him back then, I suggest you stop this little 'chat' _now_."

After looking at him with a frustrated expression, Marge nodded grimly and turned away, Dudley shooting a malicious glare at Harry for a moment before turning around to follow his aunt.

"What a revolting boy," Hermione said, looking at Dudley with an expression that suggested she was trying to decide if she'd just smelled something bad and how foul it actually was.

"That's Dudley," Harry said, shrugging as he looked at her. "Either you hated him as a bullying idiot, or you considered him the perfect child and were blind to all his faults; there wasn't much of a middle ground when I knew him."

"Your file said that he was involved in your abuse and that he seemed rather happy about it, but I didn't think anyone would go that far," Alan said, looking grimly after the rapidly-vanishing form of Marge Dursley. "How can anyone _do _that to their children…?"

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that- he wasn't even entirely sure what his father was referring to; Dudley was a bit overweight, but that didn't exactly seem like a harsh fate-, but his adoptive father didn't seem to be that concerned about receiving an answer; he just looked thoughtfully after the vanishing Dursleys for a moment before looking at his own children.

"Come on," he said, indicating the tower with a smile. "Your mother's got the tickets; she's just holding our place in the queue."

As he and his sister hurried over to the tower, Harry resolved to put that particular meeting out of his mind it was unlikely that he and Dudley would run into each other again any time soon, and all that meeting had accomplished was to reassure him that he was better off where he was than he ever would have been with the Dursleys.

He didn't need to feel Hermione's hand taking his to know that the Grangers would never care about whatever he'd been regarded as by the Dursleys; even if he had been a burden to the Dursleys, all he was to the Grangers was a son and a brother.

He'd always been amazed that the Grangers had chosen to take him in, but moments like this, when they made it clear that they didn't care what his biological family had thought of him, just made him love his new family that bit more…

* * *

When he woke up later that night, for a moment, Harry wasn't sure where he was, but then he looked over and saw his sister lying close to him in the hotel's other bed and smiled as he allowed himself to relax.

The sudden meeting with Dudley and Marge aside, they'd had a good day in Paris, and Harry was satisfied that they'd never run into them again; the vaguely-remembered dream of Vernon's treatment of him had been a shock at the time, but it was quickly pushed aside by the sight of Hermione sleeping near him, his sister's presence a reassuring reminder that those days were over.

Looking over at the corner of the room, Harry was only slightly surprised to see that Hedwig was absent; he might have gone to the trouble of bringing her along, but they'd all been aware that it was unlikely she'd spend much time with them. It had been difficult to work out how she might come with them in the first place- owls weren't exactly the kind of pet that were normally seen on airplanes-, but, with Harry not wanting to leave her on her own, they'd come up with an effective solution by packing a collapsible stand and sending her along ahead of their plane. So long as they left their windows open each night when staying in non-magical hotels, Hedwig could spend the night with them and head off hunting during the day, as well as picking up their deliveries of the _Daily Prophet_; she might attract attention from local ornithologists looking in the right places, but she seemed to like spending time with the family in the evenings.

Glancing at the clock by his bed, Harry was surprised to see that it was after midnight already- he'd gone to bed relatively late, but he thought he'd had a shorter sleep than that-, but thoughts on the fact that it was his birthday already were forgotten when his attention was drawn to something else when he looked out of the window and saw something strange flying towards them, the moon behind the shape illuminating it even further.

Getting up from his bed, he walked over to open the window even further- they left it open every night for Hedwig to slip in, but whatever this was looked like it deserved closer inspection-, ignoring the startled gasp from Hermione's bed as the influx of cool air apparently woke her up as he realised that the odd shape was two owls carrying a third by its wings. Stepping aside to allow her to see what had attracted his attention, Harry waited until the strange trio of owls arrived in the window, flying through I to land on Harry's bed.

"What the…?" Hermione said, getting out of bed to look at the newly-arrived owls. One owl was easily identifiable as Hedwig, looking at them with her usual self-satisfied manner, and the owl that she had been carrying was obviously the Weasleys' elderly family owl, Errol, who they quickly moved to Hedwig's perch after pouring him some water from the room's sink. The third owl was one that neither had seen before, being a handsome tawny owl, but the fact that it was carrying two letters with the Hogwarts crest on it at least answered where it had come from, even if the packages it was carrying were a bit of an anomaly.

Exchanging glances after the tawny owl had flown away with its delivery completed, Harry and Hermione mutually decided to open the package Errol had been carrying first, revealing an object wrapped in gold and a birthday card that, when opened, was revealed to contain a letter and a newspaper article. Putting the card to one side for the moment- the thought was nice-, but both siblings were sure that more would follow-, Harry and Hermione turned their attention to the article first.

_MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE  
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.  
A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."  
The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.  
_  
Looking at the accompanying photograph, Harry smiled at the sight of the nine Weasleys- including the as-yet-unmet Bill and Charlie- standing in front of a large pyramid, grinning and waving at the photographer, Ron and Ginny in the middle of the picture with Scabbers perched on Ron's shoulder.

"Good for them, eh?" Harry said, smiling over at his sister as she crawled over on to his bed to study the picture.

"I can't think of anyone who deserved it more," Hermione replied, smiling back at him. "Plus, the history might be interesting…"

Her voice trailed off as she sighed. "What am I saying, this is _Ron_ we're talking about here; how much of what anyone says about the tombs' history is he going to pay attention to?"

"Maybe his brother being there will help him pay attention?" Harry pointed out; Ron was a great guy to have in a tight spot, but he wasn't always the most attentive when it came to research-related matters. "Besides, Ginny seems fairly sharp…"

His voice trailed off despite the open-ended nature of the sentence, but Hermione understood; Ginny had made a mistake with the diary, but even if all had turned out well, it was too soon to even think about making those kind of jokes.

To take their minds off that rather bleak train of thought, the siblings turned their attention to the letter accompanying the article, evidently written by Ron.

_Dear Harry,  
Happy birthday! (Hi, Hermione; just wanted to say the birthday bit first).  
__Hope you're both having a good summer. Would have written back earlier, but it's been a bit hectic here; everything's been happening at once since Dad won the draw.  
__It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff.  
__I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year; old one's approaching its last legs, you know.  
We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?  
Try and come to London,  
Ron  
P.S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week._

"Not much of a surprise with that, I suppose," Hermione said, looking at the photograph in the article with a slight smile. Now that she looked closer, she could see that Percy was actually wearing his badge pinned to a fez, despite the fact that that the badge didn't actually give him any kind of authority at the moment.

"Same old Percy, I suppose," Harry said, smiling slightly as he turned his attention to unwrapping the present. Inside was an object that looked like a small glass spinning top, along with another note identifying it as a Pocket Sneakoscope that would allegedly go off if anyone untrustworthy was in the vicinity, along with a note that it had already identified Fred and George as trouble when they put beetles in Bill's soup the night before.

"Nice," Hermione said, nodding thoughtfully at the object. "Could be useful, and a nifty bit of magic that manages to look relatively inconspicuous at the same time."

"Quite," Harry said, before he turned his attention to the two packages collected by Hedwig. "Hold on a minute… this is from you… and the other… Natalie?"

"Well, I sent Hedwig to collect my gift- it was cheaper to arrange a pick-up time than have another owl bring it to you-, but the package from Natalie is a complete surprise," Hermione said, shrugging slightly as she smiled at her brother. "Come on, open up."

Deciding to open Hermione's present first, Harry picked up the large package, opened it, and found himself looking at a large, sleek black leather case, _Broomstick Servicing Kit _written on it in silver. Opening it revealed that the contents included a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tall-Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.

"I thought it was something you'd find practical and interesting; Quidditch is becoming your favourite sport, after all," Hermione said, grinning at her brother before he reached over to give her a hug.

"Thanks," Harry said, still grinning at her as he stepped back from her. "I mean it."

"Any time," Hermione said, before she indicated the other package. "Shall we see what Natalie sent?"

Nodding in agreement, Harry opened the package from their cousin, smiling at the contents; a selection of Terry Pratchett novels- he'd read some of them in the local library but never managed to find the time to buy any of them for himself-, each focusing on the adventures of Rincewind, the wizard so useless he was incapable of even spelling 'wizard' correctly but who nevertheless ended up in the most ridiculous and terrifying situations with the fate of the world depending on him.

Smiling at the obvious sentiment behind the gifts, Harry picked up the note and began to read it.

_Hi Harry!  
__Sorry I didn't give this to you earlier, but Mum and Dad already gave the family's present to Uncle Alan and Aunt Jean and I didn't know how to explain why I wanted you to have these in particular. I couldn't believe it when I found Hedwig at my window- she's a beautiful owl; you're so lucky!-, but she seemed to want to take it, so I wrapped it up and gave it to her.  
__It's all good here; we're just staying in England this holiday, but we've been visiting some interesting places. I've been reading those books you gave me about Wizarding history and magical theory, and it's really interesting; I can't _wait _until I have the chance to go to Hogwarts and learn it for myself!  
__Hope you're all having a good time,  
__Natalie_

"Good to hear from her, anyway," Hermione said, grinning over at her brother.

"Yeah," Harry said, smiling over at her as he looked at the books. "I wonder what Ron would make of these…?"

"It could be amusing, anyway," Hermione said, grinning back at him- both of them remembered Ron's 'Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle' comics and wondered what he'd make of novels about a man who could be the wizard equivalent- before she picked up the last parcel, looking thoughtfully at the label. "This looks like it's from Hagrid…"

Reaching over, Harry removed the paper around the parcel, revealing something green and leathery that suddenly quivered and snapped at them, the dual sound alerting the siblings to the fact that there were two of whatever it was before they'd finished unwrapping it.

Remembering some of Hagrid's past pets, Harry and Hermione glanced briefly at each other before Hermione grabbed the bedside lamp as Harry ripped the rest of the paper off, revealing two thick copies of what appeared to be _The Monster Book of Monsters_ before they started attacking each other, snapping at the other in a manner that reminded Harry of clawless crabs. Stuck for anything else to do before things became too noisy, both of them practically jumped on top of the books, managing to keep a tight hold on them until they were able to pull out one of Harry's spare belts and wrap it around the books. Shoving them to the bottom of their bags- they'd worry about how to stop someone looking at it who shouldn't be later-, Harry turned his attention to Hagrid's card.

_Dear Harry,  
Happy Birthday!  
Think you and Hermione might find this useful for next year. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you. Hope you're having a good time.  
__All the best,  
__Hagrid_

"He thinks that a book that tries to bite us will be _useful_?" Hermione said, looking uncertainly at Harry.

"Well… we'll worry about that later," Harry said, shrugging slightly at his sister before he turned his attention to the Hogwarts letter, handing Hermione hers before opening his own. Both letters reported the standard information regarding the departure time of the Hogwarts Express and the accompanying lists of relevant reading material, but included the promising-looking bonus of a form that the Grangers could sign confirming that they would be allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade, an all-magical community close to Hogwarts, on certain weekends.

"We're going to get to go to Hogsmeade?" Hermione said, looking at Harry with a grin. "How's _that _for a neat addition to the curriculum?"

"Should be good, anyway," Harry said, looking back at Hermione with a smile; they might be comfortable in wizarding or muggle society, but it would be fascinating to see how a purely magical village differed from what they'd seen in other places.

Glancing over the attached reading list, Harry smiled slightly as he noted _Monster Book of Monsters _as the relevant text for Care of Magical Creatures- at least they knew why Hagrid sent them such a book now-, before he looked over at his sister's list, noting with only slight disappointment the first sign of their diverging academic futures, her Arithmancy book adding an extra line to her courseload that his didn't.

It wasn't like he hadn't known it was going to happen, but seeing it printed out just made it seem more… _real_… that he and his sister were starting to take separate paths.

Hermione had been there for him since he was six years old, the first person he'd ever met who really, truly, completely accepted him; the thought that they were approaching a time when she wouldn't always be there felt…

Harry shook that thought off before it could finish.

He was just being stupid, really; no matter what happened, Hermione would always be his sister, closer to him by chance than his living blood relatives had ever even tried to be, and nothing would change that.

Nothing _could _change that; with his biological family either dead or a hideous failure, Harry only retained his original last name because he respected the memories of the parents that had originally brought him into the world.

There was no other relative out there for him, and he was content with that…

* * *

AN 2: Hope it was worth the wait; unless anyone has anything they REALLY want to see happen to Marge and/or Dudley before the holiday's over, we're back to Diagon Alley next chapter


	2. Preparing for Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the usual rules, you know (And I got the original idea for this from 'Harry Potter and the Time Mage', even if I took the time-travel aspect out of the equation)

Feedback: Always a pleasure

AN: Not the longest chapter I've written, but it covers the essential details; we get into more interesting moments in the future, but I thought it more important to focus on the steps preceding Harry and Hermione's return to Hogwarts right now

Harry Potter/Granger and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A couple of weeks later, looking over the latest edition of the _Daily Prophet_, Harry and Hermione still weren't sure how to process the news that a wizarding prisoner could be so dangerous that even the Minister of Magic thought it worthwhile to warn the muggle Prime Minister about him.

With their holiday concluded, the Grangers had returned to England with limited trouble, Hedwig's cage and their more conspicuous magical items being sent along via owl post- including Hedwig herself, naturally- while everything else was carried in their baggage. Their time in Paris had been enjoyable, but Harry was mainly grateful that they'd managed to avoid any further encounters with the Dursleys during their time in the city; the odds of seeing his cousin or his 'aunt' again (Not that she'd been any kind of relative except by marriage) might have been small, but the odds that they'd encounter each other in the first place hadn't exactly been significant either. Alan and Jane had assured Harry after the encounter was over that they had no interest in anything Marge might have to say about his past, and Hermione had dismissed Dudley as the muggle equivalent of Crabbe and Goyle- big, thick, and useless on his own-, but there were still enough Dursley-related issues in Harry's past to make him disinclined to discuss them any more than he had to.

Back in their house, the two siblings had started reading up on the latest events in the wizarding news- they'd been unable to read the papers of the previous two days because they'd been too busy packing up to have the chance, even if they'd still received the papers- while their parents started unpacking. One article immediately caught their attention after they recognised the accompanying picture of the fugitive in question from an earlier news broadcast that had identified the man as armed and dangerous.

_BLACK STILL AT LARGE  
Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.  
"We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."  
Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.  
"Well, really, I had to, don't you know?" said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it; who'd believe him if he did?"  
While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse._

"Thirteen people with a single curse?" Jane said, looking apprehensively at her children after taking in the last part of the article; they'd been so focused on reading that they'd missed their mother coming in to start reading the article over their shoulders. "Is that even _possible_?"

"Maybe…" Hermione said, shrugging uncertainly at her mother out of a lack of anything else to say; her mother was relatively tolerant of their continued interest in what Hogwarts had to offer, but she was still uncomfortable when faced with such explicit reminders of how dangerous the wizarding world could be. "I mean, we haven't really done offensive spells yet, and we definitely wouldn't be covering something like that, but maybe he-"

"Let's… _not _go there, OK?" Harry said, looking over at Hermione with an awkward expression; talking about some of the potentially negative things that magic could do wasn't going to make Jane feel any better about letting them continue to study at Hogwarts. "He's just one man being hunted by the police from the muggle and magical side of things; how long is he going to be able to remain free with that kind of hunt taking place for him?"

"Good point," Jane said, looking at her children with a slight smile before she sighed and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Anyway, let's get on with it; you still have to finish unpacking everything, remember?"

Neither Harry or Hermione were foolish enough to think that their mother was that willing to forget about what Sirius Black had reportedly done; they both concluded that she just didn't want to tackle that issue right now after they'd had such a good holiday, even if it was something that would almost certainly be brought up later.

* * *

The following week's preparation for the Grangers' return to Hogwarts was generally straightforward, but at the same time Harry and Hermione's attempts at research made it more complicated than it would have been. It might have been easier to reassure their mother about the potential perils of the wizarding world if they'd known more about Black and where he'd learned some of his more dangerous spells, but despite their attempts to do some background research since finding this article, they'd soon found that it was harder to find out information about what Voldemort's followers had done in the war than they'd initially anticipated.

Diagon Alley didn't have an actual library on it, with Flourish & Blotts serving all of the area's literary needs, which meant that they couldn't just look for past _Daily Prophets_ for information very easily, and Hermione's attempts to peruse some of her previously-acquired texts about Voldemort's downfall, purchased during her initial surge of interest in reading about Harry's role in wizarding history, had met with failure; people seemed to be more interested in what Voldemort and his forces had done as a group rather than identifying those individually responsible for anything. She had managed to turn up that the Black family had a long-standing history with Slytherin, which at least provided some form of evidence that Sirius Black had been one of Voldemort's followers, but few of the texts seemed to want to talk about the individual wizards who'd sided with Voldemort. Based on what they'd heard at Hogwarts about the likes of Malfoy's parents, most of them must have escaped conviction by claiming they were under a spell and had their names stricken from the records, although Harry wondered if some people simply preferred not to think about the people who'd taken their families when the wounds were still so fresh in the case of those who'd actually been arrested…

After a few days' attempt at researching Sirius's background had come up with nothing new, the Granger siblings had decided not to worry about the issue of Sirius Black more than they had to- he was a possible threat, but no more than any of Voldemort's ex-followers would be-, prompting them to turn their attention to the more pressing concern of getting their school supplies together. The shop assistant at _Flourish & Blotts_ was naturally relieved when they confirmed that they already had their copies of _The Monster Book of Monsters_, and their other texts all appeared interesting reading. Additional supplies were generally all fairly standard, with the only downside being the fact that they hadn't met up with the Weasleys yet; apparently Ron had misjudged how long they'd be staying in Egypt and/or Errol hadn't been able to bring them an updated timetable. Hermione had given some thought to purchasing her own familiar, but had decided to save it until they returned to Hogwarts so that the Grangers would have more time to prepare the house for whatever additional pet they brought; she was considering an owl, but with Harry willing to share Hedwig with her, she was open to other possibilities. At the moment, the two of them were spending the last few days before returning to Hogwarts reading over some of their new books before heading down to London the day before they were due to catch the Hogwarts Express, staying in the Leaky Cauldron and then heading to the station, reasoning that it would be easier to meet up with the Weasleys that way.

With their plans for getting to Hogwarts attended to, the only anomaly in their pre-school routine occurred one night when Harry was out after picking up a few last-minute groceries for his parents, having gone out to the local corner shop one night to pick up some additional milk when they ran out. After getting the milk, Harry had started to head home, but as he was walking through a quieter street, he suddenly had an unnerving sensation of something prickling on the back of his neck, prompting him to turn around and try and identify the sudden feeling that he was being watched…

It didn't take long before his eyes fell on the only other living thing in the street; a large dog, so large that it was more of a wolf, was sitting on the opposite side of the road, looking at Harry with an expression that did little to make Harry feel comfortable; nothing with that many teeth should be looking that thoughtfully at a human…

Before Harry could make a decision about what to do, the sound of a sudden, sharp crack filled the air, prompting the dog to turn around and run back into the bushes it had been standing in front of, leaving Harry to stare at where it had been standing in confusion. Harry looked around the street to see what had caused the noise, but all he could see was a tall, dark-skinned man in a fine blue coat standing at the other end of the street-

_Hold on a minute_… Harry thought to himself, squinting as he studied the distant figure.

He couldn't exactly be certain, of course- they were rather far apart, and the lighting wasn't exactly brilliant-, but he was sure he'd seen that man's photograph in the _Daily Prophet _as one of the wizards involved in the hunt for Sirius Black; he thought the man's name was 'Kingly Shackles' or something like that…

Before he could get a closer look, the man seemed to realise that he was being watched and vanished once more, leaving Harry to look silently at the area where the man had been standing earlier.

He'd at least confirmed that he had been looking at a wizard, but that didn't help him in terms of working out what he'd been doing there, to say nothing of what that dog had been; there had been something about it that reminded him of something he'd read, but he couldn't immediately place what it was…

Shaking it off as irrelevant, Harry turned around to continue walking back home, the strange encounter being forgotten almost as soon as he got back home in favour of thoughts of the future.

Just a few more days, and he and Hermione would be back at Hogwarts…

* * *

AN 2: As I said, a bit short, but the next one will be longer; next up, the Weasleys return, Hermione gets her pet, and then Harry learns more about Sirius…


	3. Friends Reunited

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the usual rules, you know (And I got the original idea for this from 'Harry Potter and the Time Mage', even if I took the time-travel aspect out of the equation)

Feedback: Always a pleasure

AN: As promised, a more substantial chapter this time, as a couple of key events take place; hope everyone likes the result

Harry Potter/Granger and the Prisoner of Azkaban

As their taxi came to a halt outside the Leaky Cauldron- considering their destination and the amount of luggage Harry and Hermione were carrying, it was easier to indulge and take the train down followed by a taxi rather than try and find a suitable car park on their own-, Harry smiled as he got out of the car and looked at the old-fashioned pub in front of them. It might be out-of-date compared to everything around it- even if that was partly because it was invisible to everyone around it-, but it had a rather welcoming atmosphere once you got past the initial over-the-top reaction they'd received when entering the place with Hagrid for the first time. After the taxi had departed, the two children took their parents' hands and led them into the pub, Alan and Jane relaxing as they found themselves in the familiar interior once again.

"Hey!" a pair of familiar voices called, prompting the Grangers to look in the direction of the voice and Arthur, Molly, Ron and Ginny Weasley sitting at a table, Ron and Ginny waving enthusiastically at them (Even if Hermione noted that Ginny seemed to turn away slightly when Harry smiled at her) while their parents were grinning broadly.

"_There _you are!" Ron said, as Harry and Hermione hurried over to join the Weasleys at the table while Alan and Jane went to sort out booking their rooms with Tom. "Great to see you again!"

"Same here," Hermione said, smiling warmly at Ron before her expression shifted to a slightly harsher stare. "Of course, we'd have been able to make sure of meeting up if _someone _would have written to us…"

"Oh yeah, the moving around thing…" Ron said, looking suddenly awkward. "Sorry I didn't let you know earlier about that, but we were going to so many different locations later on and Errol was exhausted…"

"That and we couldn't find the time to use another postal owl in better shape," Ginny said with a shrug. "What with Percy wanting to keep Hermes for himself…"

"Now then, you two," Molly said, looking firmly at her two youngest children before turning to look at the Grangers with a warmer smile. "Anyway, it's very good to see you all."

"Same to you, Molly," Jane said, smiling warmly at the other woman. "Harry and Hermione showed us the article about your holiday; congratulations."

"Oh, thank you," Molly said, smiling at the other woman gratefully. "Such an unexpected event, of course, but when the opportunity came up to see Bill…"

"Don't worry about it; you're allowed to indulge a bit after that kind of windfall," Alan said, smiling at Molly before glancing over at Arthur. "You were really allowed that much time off?"

"Well, I had some holiday leave saved up for a situation like this; it worked out rather well, really," Arthur said, smiling at the dentist. "We spent most of it on the holiday, of course, but we saved some of it to get a few new things here and there; a few details we haven't had the chance to replace earlier, you know how it is…"

"Talking of news, I take it there's nothing new regarding that Sirius Black case?" Alan asked, noticing a folded copy of the _Daily Prophet _lying on the table with a photograph of the convict in question on the front.

"Nothing," Arthur said, his mood becoming suddenly grimmer as he shook his head. "The Ministry's pulling most of us off our regular jobs to try and find him, but there's been no sign of him yet…"

"But they're fairly sure he isn't _here_, right?" Alan said, looking suddenly anxious at the thought.

"Oh, no, last sightings of Black were some distance from London; he's not an immediate issue here," Arthur said, smiling reassuringly at Alan. "That's why Percy and the twins aren't here; they're just out picking up some additional supplies, but Ron and Ginny wanted to wait for you to get here, considering that we couldn't send you an owl earlier."

"We appreciate that," Harry said, smiling reassuringly at his friend as Hermione did the same; they knew that Ron wouldn't have many opportunities to send mail on holiday, and the evidence that his family would be moving around a lot had left them reluctant to send Hedwig on what might have been a rather long and hot journey for her. "So, get anything good yourselves?"

"New wands," Ginny put in, grinning as she pulled out the object in question, Ron doing the same with his wand, both of which were clearly far newer than the wands they had used in their previous years.

"Great!" Hermione said, smiling at the two siblings before her expression faltered in surprise. "You _both_ needed new wands?"

"Stuff kept coming up last couple of years and other things took priority; so long as had _a _wand, they were too expensive to spend money on, so we couldn't get new ones before now," Ron said, in a manner that suggested he didn't want to discuss it further, before he looked up at the Grangers. "How about you two? Anything you need to get?"

"We've mostly picked up everything earlier, but we still need to top up on potion supplies, and Hermione wants to see about getting an animal," Harry said with a shrug. "I mean, she's fine sharing Hedwig at the moment, but considering that we've both got our own pets already, she's feeling a bit left out."

"Never thought I'd hear of someone being jealous of Scabbers," Ron said with a slight smile, shrugging as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the rat in question, who was lying stiller and looking more bedraggled than Harry had ever seen him; he actually seemed to be slightly thinner, and his whiskers were drooping. "Talking of which, I need to get him checked out anyway; I don't think Egypt agreed with him."

"There's a menagerie for magical creatures down the alley," Harry said with a smile. "It kills two birds with one stone, as they say; you get him checked over, and Hermione gets her animal."

"That sounds reasonable," Alan said, as he and Jane exchanged brief glances with Molly and Arthur and were met with approving nods. "We'll see you later."

"Aren't you coming?" Harry asked Ginny, looking curiously at her as he, Ron and Hermione stood up to leave while Ginny stayed put.

"No, I've got to get some things packed," Ginny said, shrugging slightly as she looked at Harry. "We've picked up a lot of new things since we got here this morning and I haven't really gotten them all together in my bag; it's… difficult, you know."

"Ah," Harry said, deciding not to take that conversation any further than he had to; Hermione might not be a typical example of what girls were like, but he knew enough to know that he didn't want to start talking about whatever Ginny might need packing.

"Talking of equipment," Hermione said, looking over at Ron as the three teenagers walked out of the Leaky Cauldron into the back area that would lead them to Diagon Alley, "I know that we've already bought most of our books, but how about you?"

"The same," Ron said with a slight smile. "What about those monster books, eh?"

"Yeah, those were a surprise; the assistant was relieved when we told him we didn't need one," Hermione said with a slight smile.

"You didn't?" Ron said in surprise. "But I thought-"

"Hagrid sent us both copies on Harry's birthday," Hermione clarified, before looking curiously at Ron. "How about Divination? What does that look like?"

"The book seems a bit boring," Ron said with a shrug. "Still, might be something to get through for the next couple of years; it's all just looking at things and coming up with an explanation for them, right?"

"Well…" Hermione said, looking at him with a slight smile that seemed to say '_That's what you get for picking something based on the amount of homework it has to offer_' without actually saying anything.

"OK," Harry said, raising his hands defensively before his sister and his friend could get into that particular topic. "Let's focus on getting the last of our supplies and get on to the menagerie."

"Supplies?" Ron repeated curiously.

"We need to top up on a few potion ingredients," Hermione clarified with a shrug.

After a brief detour to collect some of the listed ingredients on their course lists, the three headed off to the Magical Menagerie, where Hermione wandered off further into the store to search for her new pet, leaving Harry to walk over to join Ron as he stood at the counter in the only clear location amid the various cages in the shop, talking with the witch behind the counter about Scabbers.

"It's my rat," Ron explained to the witch. "He's been a bit off-colour ever since I brought him back from Egypt."

"Bang him on the counter," the witch said, pulling on a pair of heavy black spectacles as Ron placed Scabbers on the table near a cage of dancing rats, which only made Scabbers look even more past his metaphorical sell-by-date due to their glossier condition.

"How old is this rat?" the witch asked, picking Scabbers up and examining him closely. "What powers does he have?"

"Uh… he used to belong to my brother, so he's quite old…" Ron said, evidently put off answering the last question by the reminder that Scabbers had never actually shown any sign that he could do anything more than act like a lazy rat.

"He's been through the mill, this one," the witch said, moving on from that topic to examine Scabbers' tattered left ear and a missing toe on his front paw.

"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," Ron said defensively (Harry was actually slightly glad to hear that; Scabbers' injuries were one thing he'd always noticed but never found the opportunity to ask about).

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," the witch said, in a blunt manner that put Harry off her slightly; she might mean well, but that approach wasn't going to get anywhere with Ron, who simply dismissed the skipping rats as show-offs when they were suggested to Ron as a replacement.

"Well," the witch said, removing a small red bottle from the counter, "if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic."

"OK," Ron said. "How much- OUCH!"

Ron's reply was interrupted as something large and orange leapt from the highest cage to land on his head, before it propelled itself onto the desk towards Scabbers. As the rat shot from the desk to scamper towards the door, Ron ran after him, leaving Harry to call out an apology to Hermione for running off and hope that she could hear him from wherever she was in the back before hurrying after his friend. Fortunately, Ron was close enough behind Scabbers that he was able to keep a relatively close eye on the rat, but it still took them nearly ten minutes to finally catch Scabbers as he retreated to the wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"What _was _that?" Ron said, as he stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket.

"I'm guessing some kind of kneazle cross; too large to be a cat and too small to be an actual kneazle," Harry said with a shrug, ignoring the slightly confused expression on Ron's face at that information; he could clarify what a kneazle was later if Ron really wanted to know. "Come on, let's get back; Hermione's still looking for her pet."

As they turned back towards the Menagerie, Harry paused to take a look at the Firebolt still displayed in the shop's window, as he had done on previous visits- Ron had been too preoccupied with Scabbers to notice it-, but he quickly hurried on after his friend; as incredible as the Firebolt was to look at, he didn't see much point in buying the obviously expensive new broomstick when his Nimbus was perfectly fine for his school career. As he walked back to the Menagerie, Harry paused at the sight of something in the window of Flourish & Blotts- the dog on the cover of that _Death Omens_ book looked vaguely familiar-, but he pushed it aside and kept on walking after Ron; he'd worry about that later.

As they finally returned to the menagerie, Hermione was already walking out, carrying the large ginger cat that had so recently tried to attack Scabbers.

"You _bought _that monster?" Ron said, staring incredulously at Harry's sister.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" Hermione said, smiling as she stroked the cat.

"…Interesting choice," Harry said, out of a lack of anything else to say; he could understand Hermione not getting an owl when Hedwig was perfectly willing to take messages for both of them, but that cat wasn't what he'd pictured his sister choosing instead.

Of course, considering some of the alternatives, the cat was relatively tame; it was large, but it wouldn't stand out in the muggle world as much as the orange snails or the bejewelled tortoise (As it was, the Grangers had to send Hedwig out when they were expecting visitors who wouldn't know about Harry's magic)…

"Interesting?" Ron repeated incredulously. "That thing attacked Scabbers!"

"Ron, he's new; just give me some time and he'll be perfectly fine," Hermione said, stroking the cat's head. "Besides, they'll be in different dorms when we're in Hogwarts; what's the problem?"

With Ron conceding Hermione's point, the three of them returned to the Three Broomsticks, where the Granger siblings were almost immediately greeted by Percy Weasley, who held out his hand in an overly formal manner as though this was their first meeting.

"Harry," he said in his usual polite yet pompous manner. "How nice to meet you; I hope you're well?"

"Very well, thanks," Harry replied with a slight smile, Hermione simply nodding at Percy as he turned to her.

"Harry!" Fred said, elbowing Percy aside and bowing deeply, he and George having just walked into the room. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy-"

"Marvellous," George added, pushing Fred aside to shake Harry's hand himself. "Absolutely spiffing."

Percy scowled slightly at the twins' attitude, but apparently decided that discretion was the better reaction at this point and simply walked away, the twins shrugging as they looked at Harry.

"He's been like that ever since he made Head Boy," Fred said with a frustrated sigh. "Mum's going on about us setting an example for Ginny, being disappointed that we didn't make prefect ourselves, and Percy's just showing off about how much better he is at setting an example than we are…"

"And the fact that Ginny wouldn't look up to Percy anyway doesn't enter into it, right?" Harry asked, smiling slightly at the twins before he shrugged and looked over at Hermione. "Anyway, let's dump our stuff, shall we?"

"Might as well get the introductions out of the way," Hermione said, smiling as she picked up Crookshanks once again, Harry following her as they headed up to their room. As they entered their room, Hedwig's feathers seemed to bristle and her wings spread as she looked at the unfamiliar arrival, Crookshanks glaring at her in return as he turned in Hermione's arms to stare at her, but after a few moments had gone by as Hermione stood still while the pets exchanged glares, the owl and the cat seemed to settle back down as they turned away from each other.

"Well," Harry said, looking at Hermione with a slight smile as she sat down on the bed while continuing to stroke the cat, "at least they don't hate each other."

"Of course they like each other," Hermione said, smiling as she stroked Crookshanks. "The clerk told me that Crookshanks is part-Kneazle, so he's smarter than the average cat; he recognises a friend when he sees one."

* * *

A couple of hours later, as the two families ate dinner, Harry had to admit that the day had been a good one. With the immediate necessity of school supplies having been put together, and Hedwig and Crookshanks getting along, they had dealt with all the immediate problems facing them, and dinner proved to be a very enjoyable experience, the Weasleys and the Grangers eating their way through five delicious courses. Harry had been slightly surprised when Arthur revealed that the Ministry were providing them with cars for the trip to King's Cross tomorrow, but had dismissed it as irrelevant; the Weasley patriarch's explanation about how the Ministry were doing him a favour, and even if Mr Weasley was looking slightly uncomfortable, there was no point pushing it.

It was only as they were heading up to their rooms to prepare for the next night that Mr Weasley stepped forward to place a hand on Harry's arm before he could go up the stairs after his family.

"Mr Weasley?" Harry asked, looking curiously at the older man as Arthur led him into a side room; he might trust Arthur Weasley, but anything that made him look that solemn was definitely something to be concerned about. "What's wrong?"

"Harry," Arthur said, looking awkwardly at the teenager, "there's… well, there's something I should probably tell you now…"

"What?" Harry asked, puzzled at the grim expression on Mr Weasley's face; the man had always seemed so comparatively cheery it was strange to see him looking this grim about anything.

"Well…" Arthur said, looking hesitant for a moment before he took a deep breath and said the next sentence all at once. "Sirius Black is after you."

Harry blinked.

"What?" he said, looking at Arthur in shock. "I… Mr Weasley, I know he was one of Vol- sorry, You-Know-Who's- supporters, but that doesn't mean-"

"It wouldn't normally be enough, you're right, but there are some details about what happened that we haven't released to the _Prophet_," Mr Weasley explained, looking apologetically at Harry before his expression became grimmer. "In the run-up to Black's escape, he was reported as constantly whispering '_He's at Hogwarts_' whenever anyone walked past his cell while he was asleep; there's nobody else he could be talking about. Fudge wanted it kept secret, but I wanted to be sure you know that you need to be on your guard; Black was deranged before he went to Azkaban, and after twelve years to brood on it in prison, he's probably convinced that killing you would bring You-Know-Who back or something like that."

"But… won't you catch him?" Harry asked, his thoughts immediately flashing to his parents; his adoption hadn't exactly been widely advertised, but it wasn't like it would be hard to track him down if they could find Hermione's records.

"It's been three weeks and there's been no sign of him; regardless of what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands," Mr Weasley said grimly. "We're going to keep trying, of course, and the Azkaban guards are all stationed around Hogwarts for additional security, but you have to promise me that you'll be careful; don't go… sneaking out into the Forbidden Forest, stay out late, or anything like that."

"I'm not going to do anything like that, Mr Weasley," Harry said, looking reassuringly at the older man; he could understand why Ron's father would be concerned, but he also wanted to set the record straight. "I don't just… put myself in dangerous situations for no reason, you know…"

"I know you don't mean to get in trouble- we're _all _still grateful for what you did for Ginny, I promise-, but the way things are… well, I thought it would be best to make sure you're aware of the situation," Mr Weasley said, looking apologetically at him. "Considering what Sirius Black was capable of… I thought it best that you know."

Harry didn't bother to protest that he would be safe at Hogwarts; if any of the things he'd heard about Azkaban were accurate, someone who could break out of there could probably break into Hogwarts, particularly when nobody seemed to know how he'd accomplished the original escape. Dumbledore's presence might provide an additional sense of security, given that the headmaster was always the only person Voldemort ever feared and his former followers would probably feel the same way, but he had to remember that Black wasn't meant to be that sane after everything he'd been through in Azkaban; it was possible that he'd treat Dumbledore's presence as just a mild inconvenience rather than something that could actually stop him doing anything.

"Why hasn't anyone told me earlier?" he asked, as another thought occurred to him. "I mean, if I'd known Black was after me-"

"Minister Fudge was hopeful that we'd manage to recapture him before your safety became an issue, Molly thought it would be easier on you if you didn't know, and we've been maintaining a guard around your house since he broke out; as far as we can tell, he has no real idea where your family live, but Dumbledore and I were able to argue for a couple of aurors to keep an eye on Alan and Jane when you're at Hogwarts anyway," Mr Weasley explained. "As for earlier… well, I don't exactly want that kind of thing to be known by more people than it has to be, so promise me you'll continue to keep it secret."

"OK," Harry said, nodding uncertainly at him in acceptance of his request. "I'm… well, I'll probably tell Hermione and Ron, but that's it, I promise." (A part of him thought about asking if he could tell Ginny as well, but he dismissed that idea before he could voice it; she'd been through a lot during that mess with the chamber and the diary last year, and it wouldn't be fair to expect her to take on something like this unless she had to).

Despite his attempts to stay positive, as he walked back up the stairs to the room he shared with Hermione, intending to just get to sleep as soon as possible before he had to face that particular bit of information.

He'd always known that some people wouldn't appreciate his defeat of Voldemort- Malfoy in particular wasn't exactly subtle about the fact that he would probably have signed up with Voldemort already if the 'Dark Lord' was still around-, but he'd still never been the direct target of anything more than comparatively pathetic school bullies; the idea that he could have provoked someone into breaking out of prison just to try and kill him…

Magic may have made his life more interesting, but it had definitely been in the Chinese sense of the word.


End file.
